Pendulum: The Past, Present And Future Of Nigeria At A Glance By Dele Momodu

Fellow Nigerians, the devil is a liar. Let me confess that
everything that could go wrong went wrong and I almost didn’t write
this column. In fact, I had sent a message to Yemi Adebowale, the
Editor of Thisday on Saturday to that effect. The worst nightmare
of any publication is when your writer suddenly goes blank or,
worse still, has issues that make it impossible for him to
write.

My ordeal started with a frozen shoulder after catching some
terrible cold in England. It’s been very inclement weather in
recently with the rain pouring down as if it is raining the
proverbial “cats and dogs”! The pain that regularly shot through my
shoulder, as I tried to manage whatever was wrong with me, was of
excruciating proportions. I trawled through all available airlines,
looking for a seat urgently and at the same time, looking for a
bargain. I finally managed to get a flight that would take me to
Accra via an indirect route, Amsterdam and then Accra.

It was thus that I found myself in the situation that I had a
flight to catch to Amsterdam which I was determined not to miss.
From Amsterdam, I had a connection to make. Just imagine a writer
and traveller without one of his two arms. My left shoulder was
virtually frozen and practically numb. It was as if that part of my
body now belonged to someone else, But, thanks to the wonderful KLM
crew, they made my journey more bearable.

I had not slept a wink the night before and I was dog-tired. The
once seemingly powerful painkillers had been virtually useless and
hopeless for my present condition. Oh, how I hate those poisons
except on occasions such as this when I’m desperately helpless. But
they didn’t work anyway. Mercifully, nature won the battle as a
natural tranquilizer. I thank God that I was able to sleep on the
flight like a baby, and oftentimes I am asleep even before the
aircraft takes off. As soon as we took off yesterday, I was in
La-La land. The last thing I remembered was the big bird taking off
at such speed that I marvelled in my sleep-induced stupor at how
such a gigantic feat of engineering could manage to lift up into
the skies with that humongous weight. It reminded me of the
Biblical story of Jonah, the world’s greatest sleeper in history,
who found himself in the belly of a whale. Here I was in the belly
of a bigger whale.

I soon dozed off and must have slept sonorously. I was obviously
enjoying my sleep when I felt a tap which I initially ignored. I
was enjoying my trance on this astral level. The tap soon became a
gentle shove. Reluctantly, I opened my somnambulist eyes and saw
the beautiful and affable KLM hostess, Jacqueline staring down at
me. I didn’t want to be rude by saying she should just leave me
alone.

The fault was mine. I should have warned her earlier not to dare
touch a sleeping elephant, an African Chief. That would probably
have thrown her into panic and trepidation. And I would have had
the skies to myself in peace. Anyway. She woke me up and mumbled
something like “it is time for food…” Why not,” I soliloquised? “We
paid for the services.” But trust me to always prepare for
disappointment, I had branched at the Caviar House inside Heathrow
Terminal 4 to pick up some well-packaged salmon. Though I manage to
indulge in the acquired taste of caviars, I have never been able to
understand the hype behind the funny looking delicatessen. I had
scanned the KLM menu and the Lobster caught my attention. So, I
told Jacqueline to secure me one.

After my meal, I felt refreshed and rejuvenated. There and then,
I challenged the demonic pain that won’t let me interact with my
fervent readers this week. I was convinced that I would win. I
decided to write and here we are. My next challenge was what topic
to treat that would be topical and current?

Then I remembered a message sent to me by my protege, Goke
Dokun, a fine and refined gentleman, I’m blessed with many of them.
The short info was: “Dele Momodu is the richest Photographer in
Nigeria…” according to the ace Photographer, Dayo Adedayo, a very
restless, patriotic and ambitious Nigerian who has taken over four
million shots of the amazing landscapes of Nigeria, hitherto
hidden, for an unaware public to appreciate and bask in.

I promptly claimed Dayo’s title for myself on TVC, one of the
biggest television outfits in Africa. Why not? I do not measure
success and wealth in terms of Bank balances and statements, but by
the Legacy assets acquired and I’m certain no publication in Africa
has been able to cover the lifestyle of the rich and famous the way
Ovation International has. We were determined from the very
beginning to build an enduring legacy and we are proud to have
tenaciously maintained our numero uno position in the journalistic
lifestyle genre. Without sounding immodest we have built a
reservoir of robust history of people and events since 1996 which
no other publication has managed to replicate.

This article was also influenced by two speeches of Vice
President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, during the Independence
festivities this week. The first was the powerful one he delivered
at the huge Cathedral in Abuja. He delivered a message of hope
quoting copiously from the Holy Bible. As I watched him speak,
confidently and effortlessly, I saw a glimpse and glimmer of hope
in the horizon. I do not know if Osinbajo is without blemish, and
frankly, I think it is a non-starter to look for spots when there
are much bigger issues that confront us. The crux of the matter is
that none of us is a saint, otherwise we would not have a world as
we know it. The important thing is that the Vice President’s speech
reasonably reassured me that he is definitely one of the brightest
stars of Nigerian and African politics and power today. Why then do
we want to humiliate and even possibly destroy such a blessing to
Nigeria by circulating unfounded and baseless rumours and
stories?

Osinbajo’s second speech that took my fancy was the one at the
Independence dinner. Mine oh mine, that was so hilarious. He took
us on a tour de force of Nigeria’s positive peculiarities. He wove
a story of how united we should, and can be, by picking examples of
how special we are, individually and collectively, across party
lines. He even showed clips of Senators Ademola Adeleke and Dino
Melaye dancing, members of opposition party, PDP. So that the
dynamic duo would not take all the plaudits, he displayed former
President Olusegun Obasanjo dancing as well. He presented Aliko
Dangote. He even showed President Buhari and called him a man of
swag. In his own inimitable way, he demonstrated the greatness of
Nigerians globally.

I was pleasantly delighted to watch this powerful delivery. No
one does it better than Osinbajo. But I must admit how disappointed
I was when a foreign magazine was mentioned, gleefully, as
promoting our fashion. Had we at Ovation International not laboured
to showcase the best of Africa and forced our strides into the
consciousness of the foreign media that was rabidly obsessed with
famine, wars, diseases and poverty, there would have been nothing
to promote today. That is why we are not only recognised in Africa
but also the rest of the world. The international awards we have
won complement the various local awards lavished on us. The
numerous invitations to cover local and international events, in
well over 60 countries, and spanning all continents, gives us great
pride even as we are humbled by the accolades. We believe that our
leaders and our people must continually appreciate the efforts of
our own local entrepreneurs who have managed to thrive despite
incredible challenges.

This is why I will continue to plead with Africa’s corporate
leaders and governments to support homegrown initiatives. Many of
our CEOs are happy to appear on the foreign brand names that
restrict their success stories to Africa. They rush to advertise in
those publications and media platforms. They forget that charity
must begin at home.

Every effort should be made to identify those with capacity and
capabilities to market Africa to the world and help create
opportunities for our youths. You can only best imagine how many
fashion designers and tailors, musicians, event planners, make-up
artists, beauty therapists, caterers, Deejays, technical crew,
equipment rentals, security companies, different suppliers,
producers, stage builders, MCs, event centres, and so many others
who have emerged and blossomed since we started promoting lifestyle
vigorously. Not a few of them have since made it to the global
stage and we are proud to be part of their humble beginnings.

Also, we must remember where we were before 2007 when Ovation
Red Carol was conceptualised. Leke Alder (aka Professor Socrates)
designed the event as a way of catching potential talents and
giving them hope to shine and grow bigger. It was planned to be a
Christmas event with a difference. The emphasis being not only on a
time-worn and time-honoured religious activity, not on an event
where love, happiness and a bright future is shared and nurtured.
Special thanks must go to the global banker, Mr Tony Elumelu, who
bought and invested into the idea immediately and supported us for
many years. Trust the Spirit of Africa, Dr Mike Adenuga Jr, whose
philosophy is “what is worth doing at all is worth doing well”. He
took us beyond our dreams and has enabled us to empower many
Africans from all over Africa and beyond who flew to Nigeria for
the first time at the invitation of Ovation International. The only
woman who has supported the vision of empowering African youths
through our medium and other channels that she is constantly
evolving and developing, is the world-acclaimed Philanthropist and
woman of God, Reverend Mother Esther Abimbola Ajayi who has made it
possible for more artistes to get the necessary exposure and has
additionally supported primary healthcare, Entrepreneurship,
education – by awarding scholarships, and so on.

The Christmas season is nigh upon us again and with it comes
another season of the Ovation Carol. This year we plan to improve
on our best. Our people, our country and our continent continue to
grow and develop. In doing these, we can be critical, but must not
be malicious. We must stand on fact not fiction. We must recognise
what binds and unites us, we must focus more on the positive while
not ignoring the negative, we must put our best foot forward. Above
all, we must nurture and support our youths because they are the
salt of the world and our future assets.

There is much more we can achieve, together…